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Not our Luna, but another sweet black cat who shared the name 😻and all dressed up as a sushi roll for Halloween! From Yoselin Alcala‎ via our Facebook page.

A Cats on Synthesizers Halloween submission! Our little Luna in her sushi costume with a Mellotron ✨🎃

“Sushi Luna” is posing with a Mellotron Micro synthesizer. We at CatSynth are quite interested in this smallest edition in the venerable Mellotron series. It is also the subject of our most popular CatSynth TV episode.

We at CatSynth are excited to be hosting Weekend Cat Blogging Halloween Black Cat Edition. It has been a tradition for us since we started this blog back in 2006!

Black cats like Luna are sleekly beautiful and elegant, but still face challenges from old superstitions, especially at this time of year. Black cats often have the most difficulty getting adopted in shelters, and some of the posts from groups like Black Cats in Need of Rescue/Adoption on Facebook can be heartbreaking. Yet because of the superstitions and potential abuse around Halloween time, some shelters suspend black-cat adoption in October.

But this weekend, we want to celebrate black cats, and indeed all cats. So if you would like to participate, please leave a comment below, leave a comment for us on our Facebook page, or tweet us @catsynth.

Over on our Facebook page, fan Hans Blieb contributed a few black cat pictures, including the cute one above. He also reminds us that nothing is spookier than a wet cat.

Also in the scary department, we were offline for several hours yesterday due to problems with our webhosting service. But as you can see, we’re back online now and ready to continue with the round-up. We will be accepting entries through Monday because of the delay.

It wouldn’t be Weekend Cat Blogging without a visit from our friend and black cat extraordinaire Jules. He joins us from Birmingham, Alabama and never misses a weekend that Luna hosts.

Meanwhile Tillie and Julie, our friends from Nova Scotia, remind us that black cats rule! They list many of the wonderful traits possessed by black felines, and encourage everyone to consider giving a black cat a home. We also think both Tillie and Julie look a lot like Luna.

Another from a fan on our Facebook page. Mickle Boulevard submits this cute feline photo with the caption: “What’s a router? If not for sits then why iz it warmz?” That’s indeed a good question.

The Cats at Wildcat Woods have some adventures for Halloween, including a pumpkin carving contest, and this photo of Minnie posing with a pumpkin.

We at CatSynth welcome everyone to the Hallowe’en Edition of Weekend Cat Blogging! It has become a tradition for us, as we have hosted the Hallowe’en edition since 2006.

Luna poses for today’s event in a Hipstamatic photo with shades of orange and green for the season. Black cats are of course beautiful, sleek and elegant. Yet they are often the last to be adopted, and still subject to the (peculiarly American) superstition about black cats and bad luck or the occult. These stories are told over and over again – but one particularly amusing one intersects with another American tradition in October, the World Series:

Early-20th-century New York Giants manager John McGraw was notoriously superstitious, so fans tossed black cats in front of the Giants’ dugout to jinx him. In response, humane societies suspended adopting black cats during the World Series, which is played just before Halloween.

Many shelters continue to suspend adoptions of black cats around Hallowe’en, out of fear of abuse or the situation where people might adopt them as “living decorations” for the holidays only to return them to the shelter afterwards. The instances of abuse are fortunately few and far between in reality.

So this weekend we want to have a positive celebration of the Hallowe’en holiday. We welcome the participation of all cats, including those who have not participated in WCB before, but we especially welcome black cats this weekend! To participate, leave us a comment below, tweet us @CatSynth on Twitter with hashtag #WCB, or leave a comment on our facebook page with hashtag #WCB.

First up, we have a black cat Teebee representing with music gear, submitted by Stefan Robbers via our facebook page. Thanks for submitting such a perfect picture for this weekend!

Our friends in Texas, Samantha, Clementine and (honorary cat) Maverick have some spooky Hallowe’en pictures. But they’re all in good fun, and they wish everyone a safe holiday.

Meanwhile, in Southern California, Nikita and Elvira have a scary song for humans who share their lives with cats. Sung to the tune of “This Little Light of Mine”.

The family of Laura and Taffy are remembering Jet Dragon, their handsome house panther who unexpectedly went to the rainbow bridge last year. Hallowe’en is sad time, as it would have been his birthday. We send them our thoughts.

The Cats of Wildcat Woods are featuring the youngest house panther in their family, Sweatpea who is attempting to escape from under a black wig. They also share the interesting history of the Addams family and its origins in The New Yorker.

Our friends at Animal Shelter Volunteer Life wish everyone a happy MEOW-lo-ween. We particularly like the “Chef Moosey” costume, but also the fact that some of the cats from PAWS, black and other colors, are joining in the festivities. We appreciate the work they do for the cats at PAWS all year.

We will continue to add entries as they come in through the end of Sunday (Pacific US time), so keep them coming. And thanks to everyone who submitted to make this a great holiday edition!

We at CatSynth are happy to be hosting Weekend Cat Blogging #282: Hallowe’en Black Edition. It has become a bit of a tradition for us to host every year and celebrate black cats.

There is no shortage of symbolism linking black cats and Hallowe’en, in cards and signs, trinkets and decorations.

There is also no shortage of discussion about the treatment of black cats around this time of year, and many animal shelters continue to suspend adoptions of black cats around Hallowe’en, or during the entire month of October. The concern that seems to have the most credibility is that of people adopting black cats as “living decorations” for holiday, and then bringing them back to the shelter afterwards. From a recent article on Catster:

“There’s really no documentation that shows any cruelty,” said Stephen Wright, a spokesman for the Naples Humane Society. “We pretty much think it’s an urban legend.”…However, “we screen people really well, especially around Halloween when it comes to black cats, to see if they really want a cat or just a decoration,” Wright said.

Personally, I would worry much about “ritualistic cruelty”, which seems as much myth and stereotype of some people’s beliefs as those surrounding black cats themselves. But I would be concerned about pranks or impulsive acts. The image of an adolescent boy harming a cat around Hallowe’en to impress his peers seems all too real to me.

So let us keep our cats safely indoors this holiday season, and focus on celebration and love. Black is beautiful!

And without further ado, let us get on with the WCB round-up. If you would like to join us, please leave a comment below, or tweet us @catsynth with the hash tag #weekendcatblogging. We would of course love to have lots of fellow black cats join us, but all felines are welcome!

Meanwhile, Tillie’s brother Mickey is also celebrating Hallowe’en, and his anniversary with Misses Peach. He is will be going out this year as “Count Mickula”. (Of course, we mean “going out” in a staying-safe-indoors sort of way.) He and the rest of his family have this nice card for the holiday, and we of course appreciate the musical theme.

We always enjoy hearing from other cats named Luna, and here we see Luna T. Katt modeling a pumpkin costume (and not looking particularly pleased about it):

And finally, the cats at PAWS want to wish everyone happy and safe Hallowe’en!

Thanks to everyone who submitted this weekend! We will continue to post updates throughout the day and into early Monday, so there is still time to join us.

And while this may nothing to do with cats or holiday per se, it is still the first time that the orange and black of the San Francisco Giants has been represented on Hallowe’en! Here’s to hoping that our neighbors (literally) win tonight and ultimately win the series in November!

Luna welcomes everyone to Weekend Cat Blogging #230. As has become an annual tradition here at CatSynth, we are hosting the Hallowe’en Edition in celebration of black cats.

Hallowe’en can be a difficult time for any cat, with kids and mischief-making and such. But it can be exceptionally hard for black cats. Hallowe’en traditions for celebrating the dark, macabre, and scary collide with the (primarily American) superstition that black cats are bad luck. You can read an interesting article on the history and mythology surrounding black cats:

On our cat forum recently, I asked the members what they thought of when they heard the words “black cat.” Being true cat lovers, they answered that the following words come to mind: mysterious, alluring, beautiful, playful, elegant and gorgeous. But when non-cat owners are asked the same question on another internet forum they come up with these words: bad luck, witches familiar, evil, demonic, mean, spooky and Halloween… So you can see the superstition lives on even today.

Indeed, many shelters block adoption of black cats in the weeks immediately before and after Hallowe’en, some blocking adoptions for the entire month of October. However, this practice is not without its controversy, as suggested in this recent article. But as Kathy Covey’s cat blog suggests, black cats can have a hard time being adopted at any time of the year.

However, we at CatSynth, and we suspect many of our readers, fall into the category who see black cats as alluring, beautiful and elegant – and of course, playful as well. And with that, we invite all our feline friends to join us in celebration of cats this Hallowe’en.

To participate, please leave a link to your post as a comment, and we will add you to the round-up throughout the weekend.

We at CatSynth are proud to again host the Hallowe’en Edition of Weekend Cat Blogging. We also want to take a moment to appreciate the chat noirs, the black cats.

Every year one can read articles both celebrating black cats, and warning for their safety. From the Santa Barbara Independent:

The superstition surrounding black cats cause them to be the target of pranks on Halloween. Therefore, people with black cats should be extra careful about keeping them safely inside on Halloween. The concern is serious enough that most humane societies avoid adopting out black cats during the Halloween season due to the risk of them being harmed.

Superstitions and unfounded prejudice persist to this day – and not just at Sarah Palin rallies. Fortunately, stories of harm to cats on Halloween is relatively rare. But there is more concern for black cats being used as “Hallowe’en props”, only to be returned to the shelter or abandoned after the holiday. But black cats have a difficult time during the whole year, not just on Hallowe’en. From The Cat’s Meow by Kathy Covey:

When you look at the fate of black cats in animal shelters, you’d surmise they were the most unlucky of creatures. Overlooked in favor of their orange neighbor, last of the litter chosen, passed over for the more visible white cat — they make up the largest segment of the Cat Adoption Team’s shelter population.

But Covey then describes the virtues of black cats, and leaves us with this thought:

So all of you who have and love black cats, consider yourself fortunate to be in the presence of such a genetic marvel, the black cat!

So we at CatSynth would like to celebrate black cats this weekend. All cats are welcome to join, but if their is a chat noir in the house, we would ask you to feature him or her in your post. As always, you can leave a comment below, or contact us, and we’ll add you to the round-up over the course of the weekend.

Luna's fellow house panther Diamond Emerald-Eyes shares this "fangtastic graphic" with us. She also hosted Costumed Capers this past Thursday, a veritable feline masquerade. We think we spotted a few of our friends there.

The handsome black denizen of the The House of Chaos, Loup-Garou, joins us this weekend. He is suffering from stress, which was probably exacerbated by a trip to the vet. We hope that things calm down a bit.

It's time to turn back the clock in Stockholm at The World According to Pia. We are also reminded to "appreciate cats, no matter what colour, as well as other animals, as the most amazing, loveable, adorable, quirky beings they are." We at CatSynth couldn't agree more.

We remain in Stockholm for a moment to visit with Klara at Anne's Food. Klara may be the opposite of a black cat, but she is still very cute.

More cuteness, and more than a little mischief, can be found today at Cuisine Guylaine.

Thanks to everyone who participated this week. We will continue to post entries through Monday morning.